2006
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS
NATIONAL
HERITAGE
FELLOWSHIPS
:CV
^
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover:
Cuatro by Diomedes Matos
Photo by Bob Stone
Inside front cover:
"Nuestra Senora de Pueblito de Queretaro"
by Charles M. Carrillo
Courtesy of www.nmsantos.com
Photo by Ron Behrmann
Inside back cover:
"Nuestra Senora de Dolores bulto"
by Charles M. Carrillo
Courtesy of www.nmsantos.com
Photo by Ron Behrmann
Back cover:
Weaving by Delores Churchill
Photo by Tom Pich
Message from, the Chairman
Message from the Director-
Message from the Sponsor-
Message from Music Center at Strathmore
Master of Ceremonies
Bess Lomax Hawes Award
Concert Credits
Charles M. Carrillo
Santero (carver and painter of sacred figures)
Santa Fe, NM
Delores E. Churchill
Haida (Native Alaskan) weaver
Ketchikan, AK
Henry Gray
Blues piano player, singer
Baton Rouge, LA
Doyle Lawson
Gospel and bluegrass singer, arranger, bandleader
Bristol, TN
Esther Martinez
Native American linguist and storyteller
San Juan Pueblo, NM
Diomedes Matos
Cuatro (10-string Puerto Rican guitar) maker
Deltona. FL
George Na'ope
Kumu Hula (hula master)
Hilo. HI
Wilho Saari
Finnisb kantele (lap-harp) player
Naselle. WA
Mavis Staples
Gospel, rhythm and blues singer
Chicago, IL
Treme Brass Band
New Orleans brass band
New Orleans. LA
2006 Bess Lomax Hawes Award
Nancy Sweezy
Advocate, scholar, presenter, and preservationist
Lexington. MA
NEA National Heritage Fellows 1982-2005
Acknowledgements
-,»»*'
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 27, 2006
I send greetings to those gathered for the 2006 National Endowment for the
Arts National Heritage Fellows concert.
Americans are proud of our strong cultural heritage. Since our founding, the
arts have influenced American life and fostered creativity and expression in our
citizens. For more than two decades, the NEA has honored outstanding American
folk artists whose work conveys the diversity of the human experience. Our
country is a richer place because of the talent and contributions of these artists,
and this event is an opportunity to celebrate the artistic legacy that makes our
Nation great.
I appreciate the NEA for your support of the arts throughout America. I also
commend this year's fellows for your hard work and dedication to your craft.
Your efforts enrich our society and strengthen the creative spirit in America.
Laura and I send our best wishes.
MESSAGE
ROM THE GHAIRMA1
Welcome to the events celebrating the 2006 National Endowment for the
Arts National Heritage Fellows. Now in its 25th year, this award is the highest
honor the United States of America bestows on folk and traditional artists.
Through this program the NEA honors artists whose excellence and ongoing
dedication enriches the nation's culture. The many artists and groups we have
recognized provide a panoramic view of our nation's varied cultural heritage.
Congratulations to our 2006 Fellows who will be joining a distinguished
cohort of previous recipients.
I had the opportunity to attend this year's Spanish Market in Santa Fe
where I was able to introduce Heritage Fellow Charles Carrillo as one of this
year's honorees. Charles has said that he tells his students to study master-
pieces of the carving tradition and to "see the santos [saint figures] with their
hearts and feel them with their eyes." This is our opportunity to experience
first-hand, with our eyes and hearts, some stellar creators and creations of
America's artistic heritage.
We welcome a new sponsor for the Heritage events, the Darden Restaurants
Foundation and the employees of the Darden Restaurants. Darden has made a
five-year commitment to sponsoring the concert and related activities and we
appreciate their commitment to this program and to broadening the impact of
these awards, both within the recipients' home communities and nationwide.
Thanks to them for their support.
Now please join me in applauding the 2006 National Endowment for the
Arts National Heritage Fellows.
2^ ^e**-
Dana Gioia
Chairman
National Endowment for the Arts
SSAG
ROM THE DIRECT
These happy events are the culmination of a process that begins with a sim-
ple letter of nomination from someone, anyone, who feels that a particular artist
might be deserving of an NEA National Heritage Fellowship. In January of 2006
nine panelists convened in Washington, DC, to consider 217 nominations for
NEA National Heritage Fellowships. Over a four-day period they read materials,
listened to audio recordings, looked at a variety of visual samples, and at the end
of considerable discussion they recommended a slate of new Fellows. Now we
have the opportunity to honor and celebrate this select group of individuals, each
of whom has demonstrated a lifetime of mastery and service.
Last September the Heritage Fellowship events took place during the time
span between the two destructive hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast. At that
point, Heritage Fellow Earl Barthe had narrowly escaped from Hurricane
Katrina and had relocated with his family near Houston. Michael Doucet and his
family watched anxiously from here as Hurricane Rita made landfall in south-
western Louisiana on the day after the Heritage concert. Over the past year both
of these artists have done what you might expect of Heritage Fellows — they have
worked to rebuild and to reinvigorate their artistic and cultural communities.
Earl Barthe is back in New Orleans with other family members reconstructing
his home and shop and advocating eloquently for the need to restore and rebuild
local architectural treasures. Cajun musician Michael Doucet has played a leader-
ship role in raising money to replace lost musical instruments for artists affect-
ed by the hurricanes and he continues to tour and educate audiences around the
country about the cultural traditions of southwest Louisiana.
The dedication of these Louisiana artists reflects the spirit and the legacy of
the NEA National Heritage Fellows. While the artists we recognize on this occa-
sion deserve accolades for their significant artistic accomplishments, they are
also inheritors of a tradition of dedication to the ongoing enrichment of culture
and community in the United States. Congratulations to all of our recipients
in 2006.
\3*/~n 'J^y-j
Barry Bergey
Director, Folk & Traditional Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
MESSAGE
ROM THE SPONSOR
On behalf of Darden Restaurants Foundation and our family of local
restaurants, I am honored to extend my congratulations to each of the
2006 NEA National Heritage FeUows.
I commend each of you for your passion and dedication to your
art form.
Darden employees at Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and
Smokey Bones restaurant companies know first-hand what extraordi-
nary things can happen when dedicated people have the opportunity to
pursue their passion. I'm fortunate to work at a company that's com-
mitted to providing every person in the organization the opportunity
to fulfill his or her personal and professional dreams, regardless of
where or how they start.
We celebrate you because we believe great art is the foundation for
all dreams. Again, thank you for your passion and dedication, and for
the inspiration you provide us.
Ok
CuAa.
Clarence Otis, Jr.
Chairman & CEO
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
ESSAGE FROM THE
CENTER AT STRATHMORE
It is our great pleasure to welcome this year's NEA National Heritage
Fellowship Awards program to the Music Center at Strathmore. With
this fellowship, the NEA acknowledges artistic excellence, cultural
authenticity, and contributions to the fellows' fields. Strathmore, a 23-
year-old multidisciplinary arts center and itself dedicated to nurturing
art, artists and community through performing and visual arts, is a
most fitting venue for this distinguished event.
Since the opening of the Music Center on February 5, 2005,
Strathmore's new world-class space for music making has received
rave reviews for its acoustical and architectural features as well as
for its integrated education facilities. Each year, more than 500,000
people — parents and children — visit Strathmore to learn about and
appreciate the visual and performing arts.
Hosting the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Awards enables
Strathmore to continue to foster future generations of art and music
lovers, artists, and performers, while celebrating our community's cul-
tural heritage and treasures. We are so pleased to be a partner in this
meaningful and artistic occasion.
Sincerely,
Eliot Pfanstiehl
President & Chief Executive Officer
MASTER Or
CEREMONIES
-L-WF* -^ Nick Spitzer is the host of American Routes, the public
radio program from New Orleans devoted to the sources
and symbols of blues and jazz, country and gospel,
roots rock and soul, as well as related ethnic, regional,
popular, and classical styles of the music and musicians
that define the landscape of American vernacular
culture. American Routes, distributed by Public Radio
International, is heard locally Saturday nights on
Washington's WAMU-FM. Recognized for an informed and witty style in
presenting traditional artists and communities, Nick is also known for
cultural features on All Things Considered and Nightline, documentary
CD recordings, and PBS films. Long involved in work with cultural
creolization of African-French communities, Spitzer served as the first
Louisiana State Folklorist and then spent a decade at the Smithsonian —
initially as senior folklife specialist and as artistic director for the Folk
Masters concert series produced in coUaboration with Carnegie Hall and
Wolf Trap, and the American Roots 4th of July concerts broadcast from the
National Mall. He has served as the Mellon Professor in the Humanities at
Tulane University and is currently professor of folklore and cultural con-
servation at the University of New Orleans. In 2005 Nick was given the
New Orleans' Mayor's Arts Award. A strong advocate for the cultural
rebuilding of the city post-catastrophe, he was named Louisiana Humanist
of the Year in 2006.
THE BESS LOMAX HAWES
FELLOWSHIP
4 «
The Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, this
year awarded to Nancy Sweezy, honors "keepers of tradi-
tion" who through their efforts as organizers, educators,
producers, cultural advocates or caretakers of skills and
repertoires have had a major beneficial effect on the tradi-
tional arts of the United States. A member of the Lomax
family of pioneering American folklorists, Bess Lomax
Hawes has committed her life to the documentation and
presentation of American folk artists. She has served as an
educator both inside the classroom and beyond, and has nurtured the field of
public folklore through her service at the National Endowment for the Arts.
During her tenure as Director of the NEA Folk Arts Program (1977-1993) an
infrastructure of state folklorists was put in place, statewide folk arts
apprenticeship programs were initiated, and the National Heritage Fellowships
were created. In 1993 she received the National Medal of Arts for her many
contributions in assisting folk artists nationwide and in bringing folk
artistry to the attention of the public.
CONCERT CREDITS
The National Endowment for the Arts would like" to express its appreciation
to the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) for its assistance
in planning the 2006 NEA National Heritage Fellowships events, which were
coordinated for NCTA by Madeleine Remez. The NCTA is a private non-profit
corporation founded in 1933 and dedicated to the presentation and documen-
tation of folk and traditional arts in the United States. The 2006 National
Heritage Fellowship nomination process was administered by Mark Puryear.
NEA NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIPS CONCERT
Director
Paul Douglas Michnewicz
Production Manager
Sissie Lang
Set Design
Tony Cisek
Lighting Design
Dan Covey
Sound Design/Production
Pete Reiniger
Charlie Pilzer
Music Hall at Strathmore
Jon Foster, Production Stage Manager
Stage Manager
Valerie Bijur Carlson
Assistant Stage Manager
Rachel Cross
Production Assistants
Hannah Smith
Sarah Pilzer
Logistics Coordinator
Danna Boshak
Video Projection/Production
Kirby Whyte, Creative Video of Washington
Sign Language Interpreter
Miako Villanueva
Radio Production
Mark Yacovone, WDUQ Pittsburgh
Location Producer: Alex Van Oss
Recording: Aaron Lasko, Coupe Studios, Boulder, CO
Riccardo Schulz, Pittsburgh Digital, Recording and Editing
Program Notes
Andrew Wallace, Barry Bergey
Program Book Design
Scott Sever son/Shelter Studios, Inc.
Walk-in music features recordings of NEA National Heritage Fellows
from previous years.
CHARLES M. CARRILLO
SANTERO (CARVER AND PAINTER OF SACRED FIGURES)
SANTA FE, NM
"Our tradition is that santos are a part of our lives, not just something
we hang on our wall, not just something we look to maybe every third day.
But rather we talk to our santos. They are part of our lives.
We don't just live with our saints. They live with us.
We invite them into our homes to live with us."
CHARLES M. CARRILLO
Charles Carrillo has taken on the New Mexican Hispanic folk tradition of santero
as his life's work, mastering all aspects of this complex art form so that all peo-
ples can appreciate and understand it. He has blended craft, conservation, schol-
arship, teaching, and innovation throughout his career and is largely responsi-
ble for the resurgence of interest in Spanish Colonial folk art in New Mexico.
The tradition of the santero, a carver and painter of images of saints, is an old
one. The depiction of saints for religious purposes dates to the 18th century in
Hispanic New Mexican communities. Charles Carrillo started his creative journey
in 1978 when he began researching the techniques, materials, and subject mat-
ter of the early santeros. Once he had mastered the skills of the santero, he
began to teach others the lost art form, sharing his knowledge and techniques
with all who were interested, including his wife and children, who have become
noted artists in their own right. A nominator noted that Charlie has developed
an eye for the personal styles of santeros from past periods who did not sign
their names, insights into individual hallmarks that only another artist would
recognize in a fellow craftsman's work. Today he is recognized not only as the
primary authority on this subject but also as the most accomplished artist prac-
ticing in this regional tradition.
Testimony to his skills includes many awards, including the Museum of
International Folk Art's Hispanic Heritage Award, as well as numerous First
Place, Best of Show, and Grand Prize entries in the Annual Traditional Spanish
Market in Santa Fe. This past summer, he received the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Spanish Market. His work has been exhibited at all of the major
galleries featuring colonial art in the Southwest, and he has served as curator
for several prominent exhibits. Carrillo has earned a doctorate in anthropology/
archaeology from the University of New Mexico, and now teaches a course on
New Mexican folk art at his alma mater as his continues his research on the
historic santeros of the state.
His commitment to tradition has led him to work within the religious commu-
nity of northern New Mexico as an artist and an advocate. Toward this end he
has taken a leading role in the rebuilding of La Morada de Nuestra Senora de
Dolores del Alto (chapter house of the Penitential Brotherhood) after it was dam-
aged by a tragic fire and vandalism. One of his nominators said of Carrillo that
he "has a splendid sense of tradition and a deep knowledge of its particulars,
which he respects and adheres to and aids his friends to come to love; he has the
knack — the genius — to make an old tradition new every day..."
10
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KETCHIKAN. AK
"I feel that as a Haida weaver I am just a weaver passing over
and under the warp of my ancestors who are the foundation of this art
form... [My students] will keep the art alive so it continues long after I am
gone and no one remembers my name... this art form belongs to all of us."
DELORES E. CHURCHILL
Delores Churchill has dedicated her life to learning, preserving,, and presenting
the weaving art forms of the Native Peoples of the Northwest Coast, contribut-
ing enormously to the revival and continuation of these ancient art forms.
Delores is a Haida master weaver of baskets, hats, robes, and other regalia.
Using such materials as spruce root, cedar bark, wool, and natural dyes, she
creates utilitarian and ceremonial objects of unmatched beauty and cultural
significance.
Delores Churchill was born in Massett, Haida Gwaii in the Queen Charlotte
Islands and moved to Ketchikan when she was 16. After a career in hospital
work, she began to learn weaving from her mother, Selina Peratrovich, at a
time when there were just three active Alaskan Haida weavers. Peratrovich
asked her daughter to burn her baskets for the first five years of the appren-
ticeship because "I am well known for my baskets. If you say you learned from
me, you better be good." Delores did indeed master Haida weaving and went on
to learn Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Chilkat techniques as well. She then passed
her knowledge on to her four daughters who, in turn, have taught traditional
weaving to their children as well as other students. Most Haida, Tlingit,
Tsimshian, and Aleut weavers that are practicing today do so because Delores
or one of her students taught them. Her daughter April says, "Because of her
devotion to her tradition, her Haida Eagle clan carries forward an unbroken
line of weaving tradition that stretches back thousands of years."
Now, after more than 30 years of learning and teaching, Churchill is recog-
nized around the world for her weaving skills. In 2002, she received the First
Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award for excellence in the arts. She continues
to teach young people the knowledge and skills related to the weaving
tradition, observing, "As long as Native art remains in museums, it will be
thought of in the past tense." To speak to this point, she recently helped the
people of Klukwan village replicate a 500-year-old spruce root hat found frozen
in a glacier on the Yukon- Alaska border.
13
HENRY GRAY
BLUES PIANO PLAYER, SINGER
BATON ROUGE, LA
"I played the harmonica, but I started on the piano when I was ten.
I taught myself. I had a teacher, Mrs. White, but after about a month she
said, 'Henry, you don't need me, you ought to be teaching me.'"
HENHY GRAY
Henry Gray's seven decade long career as a blues and boogie woogie pianist
spans both the geographical and musical roots of the genre and makes him
arguably one of the most influential blues musicians of the past half century.
Henry Gray grew up on a farm near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. By the age of
12 he was spending his free time away from the cotton fields playing in the
churches and juke joints nearby where he earned a reputation as a formidable
musician. After serving in World War II, he joined the rural migration north to
Chicago where his stints in south side clubs brought him to the attention of
bluesman Big Maceo Merriwether, the preeminent blues pianist in the period
that defined the Chicago blues. Under Maceo's mentorship, he emerged as one
of the architects of Chicago blues, spending 12 years with the legendary
Howlin Wolf's band. During the 1950s and 1960s, he also worked as a sideman
on many record labels, including Chess and the Louisiana Excello labels, and
played with a long list of bluesmen such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore
James, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Tabby Thomas, Silas Hogan, and Guitar Slim.
In 1968, Gray returned to Louisiana to care for his mother after his father's
passing and took up work as a roofer for the East Baton Rouge Parish School
Board. Although he continued to work at his day job, Gray kept up his busy
music career playing in clubs and at festivals in Southern Louisiana, helping
create the "swamp blues" style of the region. Over the past 20 years he has
recorded a number of well-received albums, both solo and with his band Henry
Gray & the Cats, and he has again begun touring and appearing at festivals.
In 1998, Henry Gray's contributions to the blues world were honored with a
Grammy nomination and he recently received four W C. Handy award nomina-
tions. New Orleans scholar Dave Kunian sums up Gray's career: "If you've
listened to blues music in the last half-century, you've heard pianist Henry
Gray... he recorded and played for everybody... [and] helped create the blue-
print for Chicago blues piano and all that it would be... whenever you hear
someone play a familiar blues riff or turnaround on the piano, there is a good
chance they learned it from Henry Gray — or someone who learned it off
Henry Gray."
14
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GOSPEL AND BLUEGRASS SINGER, ARRANGER, BANDLEADER
BRISTOL, TN
"I love the sound of music and I love to sing harmony.
That's my thing, just putting four voices together or five. To me there's
nothing any sweeter to hear than a church choir singing, you know, or
a church congregation with everybody lifting their voice up in song
and praise. There's a beauty to that and a feeling like no other."
DOYLE LAWSON
Doyle Lawson has taken the white and black gospel quartet singing traditions
of the South and integrated them into bluegrass music, creating a new stan-
dard of excellence, and pushing this venerable art form to a new and
different level.
Doyle Lawson grew up in Ford Town, Sullivan County, near Kingsport,
Tennessee. His mother, father, and sister all sang gospel music and the family
listened faithfully to the radio broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. Inspired by the
radio performances of Bill Monroe, Doyle took up the mandolin at the age of 11.
By the time he was 19, Lawson decided that he wanted to be a professional
musician. He mastered the guitar and banjo as well as the mandolin and got
his first band job with the incomparable Jimmy Martin. For the next 15 years
Lawson played with stellar bands, including Martin, J.D. Crowe, and the
Country Gentlemen. In 1979, he decided to form his own group that would
have its own unique sound, soon dubbing the group Doyle Lawson &
Quicksilver. From the beginning, the group's emphasis has been on tight
quartet singing and a repertoire that emphasized gospel songs. Many brilliant
singers and instrumentalists have been a part of Quicksilver over the past 25
years, but the group's sound has always been the result of Lawson's meticulous
attention to detail and gentle leadership.
Although the band has numerous recordings of the classic bluegrass reper-
toire, the group is best known for Lawson's stunning gospel vocal arrangements.
In fact, it might be said that Doyle Lawson's efforts resulted in a renaissance of
tight harmony bluegrass singing. For the past five years, Doyle Lawson and
Quicksilver have received annually the International Bluegrass Music
Association's Vocal Group of the Year award.
17
STHER MARTINEZ
NATIVE AMERICAN LINGUIST AND STORYTELLER
SAN JUAN PUEBLO, NM
"People still come to my house wanting help with information for
their college paper or wanting a storyteller. Young folks from the village,
who were once my students in bilingual classes, will stop by for advice in
traditional values or wanting me to give Indian names to their kids or
grandkids... This is my po'eh (my path). I am still traveling."
ESTHER MARTINEZ
Esther Martinez, also known as P'oe Tswa (Blue Water), has spent her entire
life keeping the language of the Tewa people alive through the stories of the
people of O'Kang or San Juan Pueblo. New Mexico state folklorist Claude
Stephenson succinctly sums up her contribution to Tewa culture: "She serves
as the rock that has firmly anchored the ancient and tuneless stories of the
people to the present and guaranteed their survival for the pueblo people of
the future."
Martinez, affectionately referred to as Ko'oe (Aunt) Esther throughout the
six Tewa pueblos north of Santa Fe, was raised by her grandparents in San
Juan Pueblo, often traveling by wagon to visit her parents who lived and
worked in Ute country to the north. As a child, she was steeped in the commu-
nal traditions of the pueblo before being sent to Indian School in Santa Fe.
This was a difficult experience, but Martinez took from it a conunitment to the
education of children. After school she married, raised a family, and worked at
Los Alamos for a time before returning to school at the Native American
Linguistics Institute in Santa Fe where she began to work on developing a
Tewa dictionary. She then went on to teach children how to read and write the
Tewa language in the San Juan Pueblo Day School for 15 years. At the same
time, she compiled Tewa dictionaries for each of the pueblos, as each has a dis-
tinct dialect, and she worked with the Wycliffe Bible translators to translate
the New Testament into Tewa.
In 1988, at the age of 76, Martinez embarked on a new career presenting
her stories in English to non-Tewa audiences through Storytelling International,
traveling throughout the country to share the Tewa way of life and worldview
through her stories. She has also served as a cultural consultant to the Crow
Canyon Archaelogical Center, the Anasazi Heritage Center, and the Los Alamos
Laboratories. Among Esther Martinez' many honors are the "Living Treasure
Award" from the State of New Mexico, the Teacher of the Year award from the
National Council of American Indians, and the New Mexico Arts Commission's
Governor's Award for Excellence.
18
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CUATRO (10-STRING PUERTC
DELTONA, FL
"I've come to understand that strumming the cuatro...
has the power to attract and unite the people of Puerto Rico and even
other cultures. The cuatro has at least three hundred years of history to the
people of Puerto Rico and like many other people have said before,
the cuatro to me is like the flag."
DIOMEDES MATOS
Diomedes Matos has been described as the "master's master" cuatro maker
by luthier and cultural advocate William Cumpiano. The cuatro, a distinctive
10-string guitar regarded as the national instrument of Puerto Rico, is played
by jibaro musicians from the mountainous inner regions of the island.
Born in 1940, Matos was surrounded by instrument makers where he grew
up in the Puerto Rican village of Camuy. By the age of 12, he had built his first
guitar and from then worked to perfect the construction of a wide variety of
traditional stringed instruments, including cuatros, requintos, classical gui-
tars, and the Puerto Rican tres. Matos learned his trade by observing master
builders and by the time-honored technique of trial and error. After years of
experimentation, he built his first cuatro when he was 20. Today his cuatros are
sought after and played by the premier Puerto Rican musicians, including the
world-renowned Yomo Toro.
Diomedes continued to build instruments after moving to New Jersey and
quickly became known in the large Puerto Rican community in the New York-
New Jersey region, not only as a superb maker of traditional instruments but
also as a musician of the first rank. He has played and recorded with many of
Puerto Rico's notable artists, including Yomo Toro, Luis Perico Ortiz, Luselenia
Tirado, Ernestina Reyes, and Ramito. Popular singer Paul Simon asked Matos
to build an instrument and accompany him on the soundtrack for the
Broadway show The Capeman.
An unselfish teacher, Matos has participated in the New Jersey Folk Arts
Apprenticeship Program and has taken on numerous apprentices. Speaking of
the important knowledge to convey to apprentices, he says, "I feel that one of
the most important skills when building the Puerto Rican cuatro or any instru-
ment is patience. When you are patient you work at a slower pace, unhurried. . .
When I build an instrument, I am very patient, but I work expeditiously,
because I want to find out how the instrument is going to sound."
21
KUMU HULA (HULA MASTER)
HILO, HI
"My full name... means 'the light that would lead the way'
or 'the protector of things of Hawai'i'... in hula the first thing: you must
teach is respect. First, respect for yourself, because if you have respect
for yourself, you will have respect for the next person. Rule number two
from the old days is 'A'ohe I pau ka 'ike I ka halau ho'okahi'
(Think not that all wisdom lies in one school.)"
GEORGE NA'OPE
George Na'ope's full name is George Lanakilakekiahiali'i Na'ope, but through-
out the Hawaiian Islands he is known simply as "Uncle George." He is honored
and revered for his knowledge and mastery of traditional hula and chant.
He is one of the Islands' foremost kumu hulas (master dance teachers), and has
played a leading role in the renaissance of traditional Hawaiian culture by
establishing hula festivals throughout the world.
Uncle George Na'ope was born in 1928 in Kalihi, O'ahu and raised in Hilo,
Hawai'i. He began his studies of hula at the age of three under the training of
his great grandmother, Mary Malia-Puka-o-ka-lani Na'ope who lived to be more
than 100 years old. By the age of 12, he was already performing on recordings
of Hawaiian music. Upon graduation from high school, he moved to Honolulu
and opened the George Na'ope Hula School. After serving for two years in the
Corps of Engineers during the Korean conflict, Na'ope returned to Hawai'i and
became a cultural advocate for the County of Hawai'i.
While in this post Na'ope founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, which is
now in its 45th year. A turning point in the renaissance of Hawaiian culture,
the festival is focused on the traditional chant and dance of the islands. He
then went on to establish the Lili'uokalani Keiki Hula Festival, the Kalakaua
Invitational Hula Festival, and the Kupuna Hula Festival. Meanwhile Uncle
George has continued to teach as a kumu hula and has founded several hula
halaus in the United States and Japan. Recognized by the Governor and Hawaii
State Legislature with the designation "Living Golden Treasure," he welcomed
both President Franklin Roosevelt and President John F Kennedy to Hawaii
and more recently represented Hawaii at the royal wedding of Japan's
Emperor Akahito.
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WILHO SAARI
FINNISH KANTELE (LAP-HARP) PLAYER
NASELLE, WA
"I write a lot of music. My tunes don't have words because
I'm not a poet and I know it but I write a lot of music... right now
I'm working on my 37th book of tunes."
WILHO SAARI
Wilho Saari can trace the tradition of iranteie-playing back five generations in
his family. The kantele, a family of stringed instruments related to the lap
harp or zither, is regarded as the national instrument of Finland. This is due
in large part to Saari's great-great grandmother, Kreeta Hapasalo, known as
Kantele Kreeta, who took this ancient regional folk instrument and gave it
national prominence. She supported her 1 1 children by traveling throughout
Finland performing for the public, and performing at the courts of the King of
Sweden and the Tsar of Russia.
In 1915, Wilho's family moved to Naselle, Washington, joining many
Finnish immigrants living along the Columbia River estuary in southwestern
Washington. Wilho grew up listening to and absorbing his father's way of
playing the kantele. The whole family was musical and Saari mastered several
instruments growing up, but it wasn't until 1982, at the age of 50, that
Wilho began to play the kantele. Finnish tradition reserves the playing of the
instrument to the patriarch of the family, and it wasn't until after his father's
death that Wilho felt entitled to play the instrument. He first played at a local
wedding and then appeared at Finnish and Scandinavian festivals in the
region. His mastery of the kantele had an immediate impact. At the time the
kantele was vanishing as a part of Finnish cultural expression in the community,
but Saari's playing and teaching has revived the instrument in Finnish-
American enclaves throughout the United States.
While Wilho has a large repertoire of traditional Finnish songs, melodies,
and gospel hymn, he is also a prolific composer of songs and tunes, estimating
that he has written over 1,700 to date, including songs dedicated to each of
his six grandchildren.
Over the past 25 years Wilho Saari has received both regional
and national recognition for his playing of the kantele, but perhaps his most
important contribution comes from his willingness to play for weddings,
funerals, anniversaries, and other festivities in the local Finnish- American
community, keeping an awareness of the instrument and its long tradition in
the minds of Finnish- Americans who otherwise would have no knowledge of
this extraordinary symbol of their culture.
25
MAVIS STAPLES
GOSPEL, RHYTHM AND BLUES SINGER
CHICAGO, IL
"I saw these kids — I was a teenager and we were in New York
and some kids were singing and they were jumping around the stage and
singing loud and kind of clowning, you know. And Pops grabbed me because
when I went on stage I started doing that. And he said, 'Mavis, what is
wrong with you?' You know, he said, 'You don't — you don't do that while
singing God's music... This music is sacred and you sing from your heart.
You be sincere and sing from your heart, and you'll reach the people
because what comes from the heart reaches the heart.' "
MAVIS STAPLES
In 1963, NEA National Heritage Fellow Pops Staples attended a church service
led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After the service Pops told his family, "If he
can preach it, we can sing it." Thus a remarkable family of gospel and socially
conscious soul singers became the spiritual and musical voices of the civil
rights movement. Their sound was built around Pops's loping guitar riffs
and his daughter, Mavis's powerful vocals. The Staple Singers' hits, such as
"Respect Yourself," "I'll Take You There," and "Let's Do It Again," have become
standards in the gospel and rhythm and blues repertoire and propelled them
to worldwide fame.
While her work with the Staples Singers alone would put Mavis in the first
rank of American singers, her solo career is equally impressive and has made
her an inspirational force in modern popular culture and music. She began her
career singing with the family group in 1950 singing in local churches and on
the radio. In 1956, the Staples had a major hit with "Uncloudy Day" that made
them one of the country's top gospel groups. The 1960s and 1970s saw them
emerge as major popular artists, with numerous Top Forty hits.
Mavis recorded her first solo album in 1969, and has followed it up with
more than a dozen recordings covering an astonishing range of music, includ-
ing collaborations with artists as diverse as Prince, Bob Dylan, and Marty
Stuart that have showcased both her versatility and her strength as a solo
artist. During her career, Staples has appeared in many films and television
shows, ranging from The Last Waltz to Soul Train to The Cosby Show.
Bonnie Raitt wrote in support of Mavis Staples's nomination, "... her voice to
me is a reminder of how music can herald joyful news and bring people together,
of the power and spirit of family, and the persistent energy and soul... Now,
when soul-affirming art is so desperately needed, I can think of no better time
to celebrate Mavis Staples's voice and her ongoing artistic contributions."
28
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TREME BRA
NEW ORLEANS BRASS BAND
NEW ORLEANS, LA
"I love making people happy and I love working with the kids.
I'm always trying to teach kids how to play the bass drum or the snare drum
to try to keep the tradition going because the children are our future...
One of the main things I tell them is if you're going to join anybody's band
the first thing you do is be on time. Number two, you find out the uniform
that you're going to wear on the gig. And number three is when you come
to a gig, before you start playing, the last thing you do is a tune up..."
BENNIE JONES, SR.
The Treme neighborhood, in the Sixth Ward on the outskirts of the French
Quarter, was the birthplace and home of many generations of New Orleans's
finest jazz musicians. Central to that tradition are the parade bands that play
for funerals, street parades, and family celebrations. Benny Jones, St., a
50-year brass band veteran and son of noted musician Chester Jones, founded
the Treme Brass Band more than 15 years ago, following his role as a drum-
mer with the Olympia Brass Band and as a leader of the Dirty Dozen and
Chosen Few Brass Bands.
Although they are known internationally through their recordings and
tours, the Treme Brass Band is still firmly rooted in the New Orleans street
band tradition and regularly plays for Social Aid and Pleasure Club parades,
Mardi Gras Indian gatherings, and jazz funerals. Their gig at Donna's, a club
in the Treme district, has packed the house every Friday night for years,
while band members often sit in at Preservation Hall if the group isn't
working elsewhere.
Hurricane Katrina had a devastating effect on the lives of the Treme band
members, as it did with most all of New Orleans's working musicians. They
had to get out of the city with nothing more than the clothes on their backs,
and several lost their homes and all of their possessions. They were scattered
all over the country, as far away as Arizona. What happened next is indicative
of the importance of the Treme Brass Band to the city. Longtime fans organ-
ized a support network that raised money to bring the group back to New
Orleans, buy them new instruments, and find work in the schools teaching
jazz workshops. The effort included an appearance on CBS News Early Show in
New York, which garnered still more help from around the nation.
As with most of New Orleans's brass bands, the membership in Treme is
fluid, a mixture of old masters with the 'rat-tat-tat' born in their blood and
young innovators adding more contemporary sounds. Many veterans of Treme
have gone on to found other bands, including the Rebirth, New Birth, and
Little Rascal Bands.
2006 BESS LOMAX HAWES AWARD
ADVOCATE, SCHOLAR, PRESENTER, AND PRESERVATIONIST
LEXINGTON, MA
"My earliest hook was seeing some pottery in a shop somewhere.
I can't even remember where. And I had never seen pottery before.
I had seen china and porcelain... but I just had never seen pottery. And I was
attracted... [to those] coffee pots and coffee cups... I immediately bought them
and began drinking out of them and they were heavy and rather large but
they weren't this delicate little china thing that I had seen all my life
and I liked them very much for that... for the fact that they were strong
and sturdy and sort of honest...."
NANCY SWEEZY
Nancy Sweezy has been one of the most influential advocates, scholars,
presenters, and preservationists in the field of folk arts, making an especially
important contribution to traditional pottery and craft of the American South.
Her interest in craft began with pottery lessons in her native New England in
the 1950s. That eventually led to an association with Ralph Rinzler, who was
then working with the Newport Folk Festival Foundation. Collaborating with
Rinzler, she established a craft program and sales operation within the
Newport Folk Festival.
Later, Rinzler, Sweezy, and weaver and NEA National Heritage Fellow
Norman Kennedy founded the not-for-profit organization Country Roads, Inc.,
dedicated to the research and marketing of folk crafts. In 1968, Country Roads
purchased the historic Jugtown Pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina, and
Sweezy moved there to direct the operation. Her efforts included initiating
apprenticeship programs, implementing more effective marketing methods,
developing new glazes to replace the prohibited traditional lead glazes, and
improving firing techniques to make the pottery more durable. She later wrote
the authoritative book on Southern pottery for Smithsonian Press entitled
Raised in Clay: The Southern Folk Pottery Tradition.
In 1985, Sweezy organized the Refugee Arts Group in Boston and through
that organization administered festivals, workshops, exhibitions, apprentice-
ships, and school programs focusing on Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, and
Vietnamese folk artists. In the 1990s, she began a study of Armenian folk
crafts, resulting in the Indiana University Press publication Armenian Folk Art,
Culture, and Identity. In October of 2005, Nancy Sweezy, along with potter
Mark Hewitt, curated the exhibition The Potters Eye: Art and Tradition in North
Carolina Pottery at the North Carolina Museum of Art and she and Hewitt
wrote the University of North Carolina Press book of the same title.
30
^k
NEA NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP
1982-2005
1982
Dewey Balfa *
Cajun Fiddler
Basile, LA
Joe Heaney *
Irish Singer
Brooklyn, NY
Tommy Jarrell *
Appalachian Fiddler
Mt. Airy, NC
Bessie Jones *
Georgia Sea Island Singer
Brunswick, GA
George Lopez *
Santos Woodcarver
Cordova, NM
Brownie McGhee *
Blues Guitarist/Singer
Oakland, CA
Hugh McGraw
Shape Note Singer
Bremen, GA
Lydia Mendoza
Mexican- American Singer
Houston, TX
Bill Monroe *
Bluegrass Musician
Nashville, TN
Elijah Pierce *
Carver/Painter
Columbus, OH
Adam Popovich *
Tamburitza Musician
Dolton, EL
Georgeann Robinson *
Osage Ribbonworker
Bartlesville, OK
Duff Severe *
Western Saddlemaker
Pendleton, OR
Philip Simmons
Ornamental Ironworker
Charleston, SC
Sanders "Sonny" Terry *
Blues Harmonica Player/Singer
Holliswood, NY
Sister Mildred Barker *
Shaker Singer
Poland Springs, ME
Rafael Cepeda *
Bomba Musician/Dancer
Santurce, PR
Ray Hicks*
Appalachian Storyteller
Banner Elk, NC
Stanley Hicks *
Appalachian
Musician/Storyteller/
Instrument Maker
Vilas, NC
John Lee Hooker *
Blues Guitarist/Singer
San Carlos, CA
Mike Manteo *
Sicilian Marionettist
Staten Island, NY
Narciso Martinez *
Conjunto
Accordionist/Composer
San Benito, TX
Lanier Meaders *
Potter
Cleveland, GA
Almeda Riddle *
Ballad Singer
Greers Ferry, AR
Simon St. Pierre
French- American Fiddler
Smyrna Mills, ME
Joe Shannon *
Irish Piper
Chicago, IL
Alex Stewart *
Cooper/Woodworker
Sneedville, TN
Ada Thomas *
Chitimacha Basketmaker
Charenton, LA
Lucinda Toomer *
African-American Quilter
Columbus, GA
Lem Ward *
Decoy Carver/Painter
Crisfield, MD
Dewey Williams *
Shape Note Singer
Ozark, AL
Clifton Chenier *
Zydeco Accordionist
Lafayette, LA
Bertha Cook *
Knotted Bedspread Maker
Boone, NC
Joseph Cormier
Cape Breton Violinist
Waltham, MA
Elizabeth Cotten *
African-American
Singer/Songwriter
Syracuse, NY
Burlon Craig *
Potter
Vale, NC
Albert Fahlbusch*
Hammered Dulcimer
Maker/Player
Scottsbluff, NE
Janie Hunter *
African- American
Singer/Storyteller
Johns Island, SC
Mary Jane Manigault
African-American Seagrass
Basketmaker
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Genevieve Mougin *
Lebanese-American Lacemaker
Bettendorf, IA
Martin Mulvihill *
Irish-American Fiddler
Bronx, NY
Howard "Sandman" Sims*
Tap Dancer
New York, NY
Ralph Stanley
Appalachian Banjo
Player/Singer
Coeburn, VA
Margaret Tafoya *
Santa Clara Pueblo Potter
Espanola, NM
Dave Tarras *
Klezmer Clarinetist
Brooklyn, NY
Paul Tiulana *
hrupiaq Eskimo
Maskm aker/Dancer/Singer
Anchorage, AK
Cleofes Vigil *
Hispanic Storyteller/Singer
San Cristobal, NM
Emily Kau'i Zuttermeister *
Hula Master
Kaneohe, HI
Eppie Archuleta
Hispanic Weaver
San Luis Valley, CO
Periklis Halkias
Greek Clarinetist
Astoria, NY
J imm y Jausoro *
Basque Accordionist
Boise, ID
Meali'i Kalama *
Hawaiian Quilter
Honolulu, HI
Lily May Ledford *
Appalachian Musician/Singer
Lexington, KY
Leif Melgaard *
Norwegian- American
Woodcarver
Minneapolis, MN
Bua Xou Mua
Hmong Musician
Portland, OR
Julio Negron-Rivera
Puerto Rican Instrument
Maker
Morovis, PR
Alice New Holy Blue Legs
Lakota Sioux Quill Artist
Oglala, SD
Glenn Ohrlin
Cowboy
Singer/StoryteUer/niustrator
Mountain View, AR
Henry Townsend
Blues Musician/Songwriter
St. Louis, MO
Horace "Spoons" Williams *
Percussionist/Poet
Philadelphia, PA
Alfonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin
Creole Accordionist
Eunice, LA
Earnest Bennett *
Anglo-American Woodcarver
Indianapolis, IN
Helen Cordero *
Pueblo Potter
Cochiti Pueblo, NM
Sonia Domsch
Czech-American Bobbin
Lacemaker
Atwood, KS
Canray Fontenot *
Creole Fiddler
Welsh, LA
John Jackson *
African-American
Singer/Guitarist
Fairfax Station, VA
Peou Khatna *
Cambodian Court
Dancer/Choreographer
Silver Spring, MD
Valerio Longoria *
Mexican- American
Accordionist
San Antonio, TX
Joyce Doc Tate Nevaquaya *
Comanche Flutist
Apache, OK
Luis Ortega *
Hispanic-American
Rawhide Worker
Paradise, CA
Ola Belle Reed*
Appalachian Banjo
Picker/Singer
Rising Sun, MD
Jenny Thlunaut *
Tlingit Chilkat Blanketweaver
Haines, AK
Nimrod Workman *
Appalachian Ballad Singer
Mascot, TN/Chattaroy, WV
Juan Alindato
Carnival Maskmaker
Ponce, PR
Louis Bashell
Slovenian Polka Accordionist
Greenfield, WI
Genoveva Castellanoz
Mexican- American
Corona Maker
Nyssa, OR
32
Thomas Edison "Brownie" Ford*
Anglo-Comanche Cowboy
Singer/Storyteller
Hebert, LA
Kansuma Fujima
Japanese- American Dancer
Los Angeles, CA
Claude Joseph Johnson *
African- American Religious
Singer/Orator
Atlanta, GA
Raymond Kane
Hawaiian Slack-Key
Guitarist/Singer
Wai'anae, HI
Wade Mainer
Appalachian Banjo
Picker/Singer
Flint, MI
Sylvester Mcintosh
Crucian Singer/Bandleader
St. Croix, VI
Allis on "Tootie" Montana *
Mardi Gras Chief/
Costume Maker
New Orleans, LA
Alex Moore, Sr. *
Blues Pianist
Dallas, TX
Emiho * and Senaida Romero *
Hispanic- American
Craftsworkers in Tin
Embroidery
Santa Fe, NM
Newton Washburn
Split Ash Basketmaker
Littleton, NH
Pedro Ayala *
Mexican- American
Accordionist
Donna, TX
Kepka Belton
Czech-American Egg Painter
Ellsworth, KS
Amber Densmore *
Quilter/Needleworker
Chelsea, VT
Michael Flatley
Irish-American Stepdancer
Palos Park, IL
Sister Rosalia Haberl *
German-American Bobbin
Lacemaker
Han km son, ND
John Dee Holeman
African-American
Dancer/Musician/Singer
Durham, NC
Albert "Sunnyland Slim"
Luandrew *
African-American Blues
Pianist/Singer
Chicago, IL
Yang Fang Nhu
Hmong Weaver/Embroiderer
Detroit, MI
Kenny Sidle
Anglo- American Fiddler
Newark, OH
Willie Mae Ford Smith *
African-American Gospel
Singer
St. Louis, MO
Clyde "Kindy" Sproat
Hawaiian Cowboy
Singer/Ukulele Player
Kapa'au, HI
Arthel "Doc" Watson
Appalachian Guitarist/Singer
Deep Gap, NC
John Cephas
Piedmont Blues
Guitarist/Singer
Woodford, VA
Fairfield Four
African-American Gospel
Singers
Nashville, TN
Jose Gutierrez
Mexican Jarocho
Musician/Singer
Norwalk, CA
Richard Avedis Hagopian
Armenian Oud Player
Visalia, CA
Christy Hengel
German-American
Concertina Maker
New Ulm, MN
Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings
Kiowa Regalia Maker
Anadarko, OK
Bias Kementzides
Pontic Greek Lyra Player
Norwalk, CT
Ethel Kvalheim
Norwegian Rosemaler
Stoughton, WI
Mabel E. Murphy *
Anglo-American Quilter
Fulton, MO
La Vaughn E. Robinson
Tap Dancer
Philadelphia, PA
Earl Scruggs
Bluegrass Banjo Player
Madison, TN
Harry V Shourds
Wildfowl Decoy Carver
Seaville, NJ
Chesley Goseyun Wilson
Apache Fiddle Maker
Tucson, AZ
Howard Armstrong*
African-American String Band
Musician
Detroit, MI
Em Bun
Cambodian Silk Weaver
Harrisburg, PA
Natividad Cano
Mexican- American Mariachi
Musician
Monterey Park, CA
Giuseppe and
Raffaela DeFranco
Southern Italian Musicians
and Dancers
Belleville, NJ
Maude Kegg *
Ojibwe Tradition Bearer
Onamie, MN
Kevin Locke
Lakota Flute
Player/Singer/Dancer/Storyteller
Mobridge, SD
Marie McDonald
Hawaiian Lei Maker
Kamuela, HI
Wallace McRae
Cowboy Poet
Forsyth, MT
Art Moilanen*
Finnish Accordionist
Mass City, MI
Emilio Rosado *
Woodcarver
Utuado, PR
Robert Spicer *
Flatfoot Dancer
Dickson, TN
Douglas Wallin *
Appalachian Ballad Singer
Marshall, NC
Etta Baker
African-American Guitarist
Morgantown, NC
George Blake
Hupa-Yurok
Native American Craftsman
Hoopa, CA
Jack Coen
Irish-American Flautist
Bronx, NY
Rose Frank *
Nez Perce Cornhusk Weaver
Lapwai, ID
Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero *
Mexican-American
Singer/Guitarist/Composer
Cathedral City, CA
Khamvong Insixiengmai
Laotian Singer
Fresno, CA
Don King
Western Saddlemaker
Sheridan, WY
Riley "B.B." King
Blues Guitarist/Singer
Itta Bena, MS/Las Vegas, NV
Esther Littlefieleld
Tlingit Regalia Maker
Sitka, AK
Seisho "Harry" Nakasone
Okinawan-American Musician
Honolulu, HI
Irvan Perez
Isleno (Canary Islands) Singer
Poydras, LA
Morgan Sexton *
Appalachian Banjo
Player/Singer
Linefork. KY
NiMtas Tsimouris *
Greek-American Bagpipe
Player
Tarpon Springs, FL
Gussie Wells *
African-American Quilter
Oakland, CA
Arbie Wilhams*
African- American Quilter
Oakland, CA
Melvin Wine*
Appalachian Fiddler
Copen, WV
Francisco Aguabella
Afro-Cuban Drummer
Manhattan Beach, CA
Jerry Brown
Southern Stoneware Tradition
Potter
Hamilton, AL
Walker Calhoun
Cherokee
Musician/Dancer/Teacher
Cherokee, NC
Clyde Davenport
Appalachian Fiddler
MonticeUo, KY
BeUe Deacon *
Athabascan Basketmaker
Grayling, AK
Nora Ezell
African- American Quilter
Eutaw, AL
Gerald R. Hawpetoss
Menorninee/Potowatonii
Regalia Maker
Milwaukee, WI
Fatima Kuinova
Bukharan Jewish Singer
Rego Park, NY
John Yoshio Naka*
Bonsai Sculptor
Los Angeles, CA
Ng Sheung-Chi
Chinese Toissan muk'yu
Folk Singer
New York, NY
Marc Savoy
Cajun Accordion
Maker/Musician
Eunice, LA
Othar Turner*
African- American Fife Player
Senatobia, MS
Tanjore Viswanathan*
South Indian Flute Master
Middletown, CT
Santiago Almeida *
Conjunto Musician
Sunnyside, WA
Kenny Baker
Bluegrass Fiddler
Cottontown, TN
Inez Catalon *
French Creole Singer
Kaplan, LA
33
Nieh olas * & Elena Charles
Yupik Woodcarver Maskmaker/
Skinsewer
Bethel. AK
Charles Hankins*
Boatbuilder
Lavallette. XJ
Nalani Kanaka die & Pualani
Kanaka die Kanahele
Hula Masters
Hilo. HI
Everett Kapayou
MesquaMe Singer
Ta m a, IA
Mcintosh County Shouters
African-American
Spirit! 1 al /Shout Performers
Townsend, 6A
Elmer Miller *
Bit & Spur Maker/Silversmith
N;
rampa, DO
Jack Owens *
Blues Singer Guitarist
Bentonia, MS
Mone & Vanxay
Saenphimmachak
Laotian Weavers/
Needleworkers, Loommakers
St. Louis, MO
Liang-xing Tang
Chinese-American Pipa
(lute) Player
Bayside, NY
Liz Carroll
Irish- American Fiddler
Chicago, IL
Clarence Fountain &
The Blind Boys
African- American
Gospel Singers
Atlanta. GA
Mary Mitchell Gabriel*
Passamaquoddy Basketmaker
Princeton, ME
Johnny Gimble
Western Swing Fiddler
Dripping Springs, TX
Frances Varos Graves *
Hispanic-American Colcha
Bmbnaderer
Ranchos de Taos, Nil
Violet Hilbert
Skagit Storyteller
Seattle, WA
Sosei Shizuye Matsumoto
Japanese Tea Ceremony Master
Los Angeles. CA
D.L. Menard
Cajun Musician/Songwriter
Erath. LA
Simon Shaheen
Arab-American Oud Player
Brooklyn, NY
Lily Vorperian
Armenian Marash-Style
Embroiderer
Glendale. CA
Elder Roma Wilson
African- American
Harmonica Player
Blue Springs, MS
Bao Mo-Li
Chinese- American
Jing Erhu Player
Flushing, NY
Mary Holiday Black
Navajo Basketweaver
Mexican Hat, UT
Lyman Enloe *
Old-Time Fiddler
Lees Summit, MO
Donny Golden
Irish- American Stepdancer
Brooklyn, NY
Wayne Henderson
Appalachian Luthier /Musician
Mouth of Wilson, VA
Bea Ellis Hensley
Blacksmith
Spruce Pine, NC
Nathan Jackson
Tlingit Woodcarver/
Metalsmith/Dancer
Ketchikan, AK
Danongan Kalanduyan
Filipino- American
Kulintang Musician
San Francisco, CA
Robert Jr. Lockwood
Delta Blues Guitarist/Singer
Cleveland, OH
Israel "Cachao" Lopez
Afro-Cuban
Bassist/Composer/Bandleader
Miami FL
Nelhe Star Boy Menard *
Lakota Sioux Quiltmaker
Rosebud, SD
Buck Ramsey *
Cowboy Poet/Singer
Amarillo. TX
Obo Addy
Ghanian- American Drummer
Portland, OR
Betty Pisio Christenson
Ukranian-American Egg
Decoration
Suring. WI
Paul Dahlin
Swedish- American Fiddler
Minneapolis, MN
Juan Gutierrez
Puerto Rican Drummer
New York, NY
Solomon* & Richard Hodpii
Hawaiian Falsetto
Singers/Musicians
Pukalani and Wailuku, HI
Will Keys*
Appalachian Banjo Player
Gray. TN
Joaquin "Jack' Lujan
Chamorro Blacksmith
Barrigada. GU
Eva McAdams
Shoshone Regalia Maker
Fort Washakie, WY
John Mealing &
Cornelius Wright, Jr. *
African- American Railroad
Work Song Singers
Birmingham, AL
Vernon Owens
Stoneware Potter
Seagrove, NC
Dolly Spencer
Inupiat Dollmaker
Homer, AK
Edward Babb
Shout Gospel Trombonist &
Band Leader
Jamaica, NY
Charles Brown *
Blues Pianist & Composer
Berkeley. CA
Gladys LeBlanc Clark
Cajun Spinner & Weaver
Duson, LA
Georgia Harris *
Catawba Potter
Atlanta, GA
Wen-yi Hua
Chinese Kunqu Opera Singer
Arcadia, CA
Ali Akbar Khan
Sarod Player & Raga Composer
San Anselmo, CA
Ramon Jose Lopez
Santero & Metalsmith
Santa Fe, Nil
Jim* & Jesse McReynolds
Bluegrass Musicians
Gallatin, TN
Phong Nguyen
Vietnamese Musician /Scholar
Kent, OH
Hystercine Rankin
African-American Quilter
Lorman. MS
Francis Whitaker *
Rl arVk-BTn i th /Orn am en ta.1
Ironworker
Carbondale, CO
Apsara Dancers
Cambodian Dancers
and Musicians
Reston, VA &
Fort Washington, MD
Eddie Blazonczyk
Polish-American Polka
Musician/Bandleader
Bridgeview, IL
Dale Calhoun
Boatbuilder
Tiptonville. TN
Bruce Caesar
Sac and Fox-Pawnee
Silversmith
Anadarko. OK
Antonio De La Rosa*
Tejano Conjunto Accordionist
Riviera, TX
Epstein Brothers
Klezmer Musicians
Tamarac, FL
Sophia George
Yakama-Colville Beadworker
Gresham, OR
Nadjeschda Overgaard*
Danish-American Hardanger
Embroiderer
KimbaUton, LA
Harilaos Papapostolou *
Greek Byzantine Chanter
Potomac, MD
Roebuck Pops" Staples *
Gospel/Blues Musician
Dolton, IL
Claude "The Fiddler" W illiams *
Jazz/Swing Fiddler
Kansas City, MO
Frisner Augustan
Haitian Drununer
Brooklyn, NY
lila Greengrass Blackdeer
Hocak Black Ash
Basketmaker/Needleworker
Black River Falls, WI
Shirley Caesar
Gospel Singer
Durham, NC
Alfredo Campos
Horse-Hair Hiteher
Federal Way, WA
Mary Louise Defender Wilson
Dakotah-Hidatsa
Traditionalist/Storyteller
Shields, ND
James 'Jimmy Slyde" Godbolt
Tap Dancer
Hanson, MA
Ulysses "Uly" Goode
Western Mono Basketmaker
North Fork, CA
Bob Holt*
Ozark Fiddler
Ava, MO
Zalrir Hussain
North Indian labia Drummer
San Anselmo, CA
Elliott "Elke" Mannette
Trinidadian Steel Pan
Builder/Tuner/Player
Morgantown, WV
Mick Moloney
Irish Musician
Philadelphia. PA
Eudokia Sorochaniuk
Ukrainian Weaver/Textile
Artist
Pennsauken. NJ
Ralph W. Stanley
Boatbuilder
Southwest Harbor, ME
34
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Bounxou Chanthraphone
Laotian Weaver/Embroiderer
Brooklyn Park, MN
Dixie Hum m i n gbirds
African-American
Gospel Quartet
Philadelphia, PA
Felipe Garcia Villa.mil
Afro-Cuban Drummer/Santero
Los Angeles, CA
Jose Gonzalez
Hammock Weaver
San Sebastian, PR
Nettie Jackson
Klickitat Basketmaker
White Swan, WA
Santiago Jimenez, Jr.
Tejano Accordionist/Singer
San Antonio, TX
Genoa Keawe
Hawaiian Falsetto
Singer/Ukulele Player
Honolulu, HI
Frankie Mannin g
Lindy Hop
Daiicer/Choreographer/Teacher
Corona, NY
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins
Blues Piano Player
La Porte, IN
Konstantinos Pilarinos
Orthodox Byzantine Icon
Woodcarver
Astoria, NY
Chris Strachwitz
(Bess Lorn ax Hawes Award)
Record Producer/Label Founder
El Cerrito, CA
B. Dorothy Thompson
Appalachian Weaver
Davis, WV
Don Walser
Western Singer/Guitarist
Austin, TX
Celestino Aviles
Santero
Orocovis, PR
Mozell Benson
African-American Quilter
Opelika, AL
Wilson "Boozoo" Chavis *
Zydeco Accordionist
Lake Charles, LA
Hazel Dickens
Appalachian Singer/Songwriter
Washington, DC/Montcalm, WV
Joao "Joao Grande" Olivera dos
Santos
Capoeira Angola Master
New York, NY
Evalena Henry
Apache Basketweaver
Peridot, AZ
Peter Kyvelos
Oud Maker
Bedford, MA
Eddie Pennington
Thumbpicki n g-Style Guitarist
Princeton, KY
Qi Shu Fang
Beijing Opera Performer
Woodhaven, NY
Seiichi Tanaka
Taiko Drummer/Dojo Founder
San Francisco, CA
Dorothy Trumpold
Rug Weaver
East Amana, IA
FredTsoodle
Kiowa Sacred Song Leader
Mountain View, OK
Joseph T. Wilson
(Bess Lomax Hawes Award)
Folklorist/Advocate/Presenter
Silver Spring, MD/Trade, TN
Ralph Bhzard *
Old-Time Fiddler
Blountville, TN
Loren Bommelyn
Iblowa Tradition Bearer
Crescent City, CA
Kevin Burke
Irish Fiddler
Portland, OR
Francis & Rose* Cree
Ojibwe Basketmakers/
Storytellers
Dunseith, ND
Luderin Darbone/Edwin Duhon*
Cajun Fiddler and Accordionist
Sulphur, LA/Westlake, LA
Nadim Dlaikan
Lebanese Nye (reed flute)
Player
Southgate, MI
David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Delta Blues Guitarist/Singer
Chicago, PL
Flory Jagoda
Sephardic Musician/Composer
Falls Church, VA
Clara Neptune Keezer
Passamaquoddy Basketmaker
Perry, ME
Losang Samten
Tibetan Sand Mandala Painter
Philadelphia, PA
Bob McQuillen
Contra Dance
Musician/Composer
Peterborough, NH
Jean Ritchie
(Bess Lomax Hawes Award)
Appalachian
Musician/Songwriter/
Cultural Activist
Port Washington, NY/Viper, KY
Domingo "Mingo" Saldivar
Conjunto Accordionist
San Antonio, TX
Basque (Bertsolari) Poets
Jesus Arriada,
San Francisco, CA
Johnny Curutchet,
South San Francisco, CA
Martin Goicoechea,
Rock Springs, WY
Jesus Goni, Reno, NV
Rosa Elena Egipciaco
Mundillo (Puerto Rican
bobbin lace)
New York, NY
Agnes "Oshanee" Kenmille
Salish Beadworker and
Regalia Maker
Ronan, MT
Norman Kennedy
Weaver, Singer, Storyteller
Marshfield, VT
Roberto and Lorenzo Martinez
Hispanic Musicians
Albuquerque, NM
Carmencristi n a. Moreno
(Bess Lomax Hawes Award)
Mexican American Singer,
Composer, Teacher
Fresno, CA
Norma Miller
African American
Dancer/Choreographer
Las Vegas, NV
Ron Poast
Hardanger Fiddle Maker
Black Earth, WI
Felipe I. and Joseph K. Ruak
Carolinian Stick Dance Leaders
Commonwealth of the
Northern
Mariana Islands
Manoochehr Sadeghi
Persian Santur Player
Sherman Oaks, CA
Nicholas Toth
Diving Helmet
Designer/Builder
Tarpon Springs, FL
Anjani Ambegaokar
North Indian Kathak Dancer
Diamond Bar, CA
Charles "Chuck' T Campbell
Gospel Steel Guitar Player
Rochester, NY
Joe Derrane
Irish-American Button
Accordionist
Randolph, MA
Jerry Douglas
Dobro Player
Nashville, TN
Gerald "Subiyay" Miller *
Skokomish Oral Tradition
Bearer, Carver,
Basket Maker
Shelton, WA
Milan Opacich
Tamburitza Instrument Maker
Shererville, IN
Eliseo and Paula Rodriguez
Straw Applique Artists
Santa Fe, NM
Koko Taylor
Blues Musician
Country Club Hills, IL
Yuqin Wang and Zhengli Xu
Chinese Rod Puppeteers
Aloha, OR
Chum Ngek
(Bess Lomax Hawes Award)
Cambodian Musician and
Teacher
Gaithersburg, MD
Eldrid Skjold Arntzen
Norwegian American
rosemaler
Watertown, CT
Earl Barthe
Decorative building craftsman
New Orleans, LA
Chuck Brown
African American musical
innovator
Brandywine, MD
Michael Doucet
Cajun fiddler, composer,
and band leader
Lafayette, LA
Jerry Grcevich
Tamburitza musician,
prim player
North Huntingdon, PA
Grace Henderson Nez
Navajo weaver
Ganado, AZ
Wanda Jackson
Early country, rockabilly,
and gospel singer
Oklahoma City, OK
Herminia Albarran Romero
Paper-cutting artist
San Francisco, CA
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
Yiddish singer, poet,
songwriter
Bronx, NY
Albertina Walker
Gospel singer
Chicago, IL
James Ka'upena Wong
Hawaiian chanter
Waianae, HI
Janette Carter*
(2005 Bess Lomax Hawes
Award)
Appalachian musician,
advocate
Hiltons, VA
*deceased
35
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
Dana Gioia, Chairman
Eileen B. Mason, Senior Deputy Chairman
Tony Chauveaux, Deputy Chairman for
Grants & Awards
Ann Guthrie Hingston, Director,
Office of Government Affairs
Mike Burke-Kirby Office of
Government Affairs
Felicia Knight, Director, Office of
Communications
Victoria Hutter, Office of Communications
Donald Ball, Office of Com m unications
David Low, Office of Communications
John Hewett, Director, Development
Carrie Holbo, Development
Barry Bergey, Director, Folk &
Traditional Arts
Rose Morgan, Folk & Traditional Arts
Catherine Vass, Division Coordinator
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE
TRADITIONAL ARTS STAFF
Tom Adams
Dennis Blackledge
Danna Boshak
Dudley Connell
Kendra Denny
Amy Grossman n
Rhonda Jenkins
Josh Kohn
Julia Olin, Executive Director
Madeleine Remez
Ehssa Staley
Joseph T Wilson, Chairman
The National Endowment for the Arts and the
NCTA would also like to acknowledge the
invaluable assistance of the following individ-
uals and institutions:
The Honorable Howard McKeon,
United States House of Representatives
TomPich
Michael Stewart
Mary Ekstein
Lettie Holman
American Folklife Center,
Library of Congress
Documentary Arts
Bethesda Doubletree Hotel
Four Seasons Van and Travel
The House of Musical Traditions
TicketPLACE
The staff at The Music Hall at Strathmore
Bob Stone
Mike Petillo
Malcolm Knapp
www.nmsantos.com
Jon Lob man
Chelle C. Shand
Josephine Binford
Holly Churchill
Mark Puryear
Major support for the National Heritage
Fellowship events is made possible through
the enthusiastic support of the Darden
Restaurants Foundation and the Darden
family of restaurants — Red Lobster, Olive
Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones
Barbeque & Grill.
DARDEN
RESTAURANTS.
WAMU is the official Media Sponsor.
WAMU88.5fm
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY RADIO
Presented in partnership with
36
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS
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